Clarin did not believe it possible to run into danger here in the afterlife. He was dead wrong.

After travelling through the grassy field for a time, Clarin heard an angry screech from the sky above. A dragon landed before him, glorious in grayscale. Its stony wings were outstretched, its white eyes glowing, its black tongue flicking back and forth. Clarin stood his ground. In life, he might have been afraid. In death, he knew he could not die again.

The dragon spewed fire the color of smoke. Clarin wouldn't have moved, but some great force shoved him aside, and he fell into the dewy grass. When he looked up, he saw Lord Brutus, his other fellow suitor, brandishing the sword he had used to kill himself. The life ending wound was vibrantly visible against his shaded chest, wet and dull red. Brutus swung his sword at the dragon, slashing it across the snout. The creature roared its protest and took to the sky.

"You didn't need to rescue me." Clarin said, as Brutus extended a hand to help him back to his feet. "We can't die again."

"Doesn't mean there is no pain." Brutus replied. He patted Clarin on the shoulder. "I see you've joined us here. There is no way back, unfortunately."

"That's what Basil tried to tell me."

"The man is right."

"I won't believe you until I've tried for myself."

"Aren't you a brave soul?"

"You took on a dragon."

Brutus smiled. "There's not much else to do around here."

"What is there to do?"

"Not much. Talk to others, on occasion. Like you."

"Has no one built a civilization in the afterlife?" Clarin wondered aloud. "Why couldn't we?"

Brutus shook his head and sheathed his sword. "Something keeps us apart. If you built a city, friend, you'd be living in it alone."

"Death is a lonely endeavor." Clarin sighed.

"We should never have been so foolish."

"And yet we did not learn from our mistakes." Clarin replied, with a small smile. "We pushed it further. And look where it led us."

"This would be our fate, either way."

"Of course. But there are other ladies we could have married."

Brutus grunted. "Don't think about life. It only makes this worse."

"I'm going to find Verita."

"Good luck to you, friend."

"If you come with me, I could try to bring you back from the dead."

Brutus smiled. "I have other monsters to fight."

"Perhaps I'll see you again."

"Fare thee well in your travels, my friend."

Clarin headed off through the field, leaving Brutus behind. In the distance, he saw the shadows of mountains. Would this world ever end? How far did the land of death extend? Was it a never ending continent? Were there oceans and deserts? Was there a sky beyond the grey and black? Were there clouds? Was there a moon or a sun? Did color ever show, besides the red of deathly wounds?

The air was cold. The fog around Clarin's feet thickened as he walked. Evening fell, and the sky became the color of iron. Rain began to fall. A downpour began. Clarin was soaked. He could feel the blood on his neck and hand being washed away. The last memory of life. The last memory of color. Already, Clarin's mind was beginning to see in black and white. He always liked the color green. But what did it look like? How did anything exist other than black and white and the shades in between? Green was a made up word for the idea of something that could never truly exist.

Clarin's hair was plastered to his skin. He shivered from the wet and cold. Then, he found a cave, and went inside it to shelter from the weather. He sat against the rock wall. He tried to make himself comfortable, though a stubborn rock was jabbing at his back.

Lord Clarin picked up his harp and plucked a few of the strings. It was hopelessly out of tune. Clarin had the feeling it would never play sweet sounding music again. Still, he had no intention to dispose of the instrument. If he looked at it just right, he could see a glint of gold, and hear the sweet melodies it used to play echoing in his mind. It was a memory. If he threw it away, his connection to life would truly be forever lost.

Clarin slept in the cave that night, until the bright grey of day awoke him the next morning. Instead of leaving the cave, Clarin decided to venture deeper. After all, he could not see what was in the darkness beyond the lit entrance. He was curious. And if he was destined to stay here forever, he might as well find some adventures to go on every now and then. As it turned out, Verita had a very similar idea.